We have seen a lot of ups in David's life so far.
He's gone from shepherd boy to anointed king,
to giant slayer, and today we're going to see
a little bit of his life taking a turn.
We all tend to measure our lives a lot of time
by a lot of the high points and low points
that are in our life, and often the experiences
that we experience can kind of become,
I'll use the illustration tonight of pillars.
Pillars in our life that kind of become these things
that we measure the quality of our life,
these high points become things that we remember,
things that we kind of, if we were gonna write
a biography of our life, these might be
the chapters of our life.
So maybe finishing schooling or getting married
or getting a certain promotion or reaching
a certain status in your career or opening up
your own business, these kinds of wonderful highlights
of our life, they tend to litter our life,
and to be honest, when we look back at the history
of our lives, these tend to be the large points
that would sort of, if you in a way, define our life.
And we've been following through David's life,
and we've seen a lot of high points, as I mentioned,
we've seen him chosen to be king and anointed
above all of his, over his brothers,
and then we see him coming, and he stands before Goliath
and comes not with a sword, but in the name of the Lord,
right, and he slays the giant with a sling and stone,
and then the giant's own sword.
But today we're going to experience kind of a hard right,
if you will, in David's life, and we're going to experience
some low points in David's life.
So he's gone from the anointed king, the giant slayer,
he's been appointed as the court musician for King Saul,
he gains a wife in the process,
he's got a, gets a royal best friend, Jonathan,
in the process, everything has seemed to be going smooth.
But now in David's life, we're going to experience
with author Seth Godin calls the dip,
and applied to his spiritual context,
the dip is a time of testing through which
pressure filled circumstances reveal
and refine the status of our faith in real time.
We just sang the song, Great is Thy faithfulness,
Lord unto me, and we're going to experience that
through the life of David.
These times are what we call the dip tonight,
are some of the darkest days in our life.
They're sort of the times in between the pillars,
we don't necessarily like to talk about,
but we can also become defining points,
and I'm convinced through personal experience,
and some of you may have walked through,
or maybe even walking through some of these times
right now in your life that oftentimes,
I'm convinced that these times are necessary in our life,
if we're going to grow deeper in our relationship with God,
if we want to have a dynamic relationship with our God
and experience his faithfulness,
there needs to be times where we call out to him
for that faithfulness.
And so what we're going to see through the context
of our narrative tonight,
we're going to go through several chapters,
we're going to try to go through it rather quickly,
because we've got a lot to cover,
but we're going to be in Samuel,
first Samuel chapter 19 tonight,
so I invite you to open up your scriptures,
first Samuel chapter 19,
as we begin to look into David's life,
and we're going to see tonight an incredible stream
of losses in David's life.
Let's go to the Lord in prayer and ask him to bless
our time of study together tonight.
Father in heaven, we're thankful for the opportunity
we have to open up your word, a word of God.
Lord, I pray that this would not just be another lesson
in history, Father, or just a remembrance
of something that we've studied in the past,
but Lord, that you would allow the word of God
and the Holy Spirit of God to interact in our hearts, Lord,
and to change the way that we think
and the way that we believe in you.
Father, I pray that you would help us to call out to you
in times of need, Lord,
and to understand that you are truly all that we need.
And Father, I pray that you would help us to be satisfied
in you and to learn to trust in you alone.
Father, thank you for allowing these times
to happen in our lives, Lord.
They are not times that we like to remember,
but Lord, sometimes we need them, Lord, for we need you.
And Father, I pray that you would help us to learn
from this tonight and from your scripture
as we pray in Jesus' name, amen.
So we're going to look tonight at a stream
of incredible losses for David in his life.
First of all, it's in 1 Samuel chapter 19,
beginning in verse eight, the scripture says this,
and there was war again, and David went out
and fought with the Philistines.
Now, just by way of reminder,
David is now living in the house of Saul.
He has Michael, Saul's daughter as his wife,
and he's working for Saul.
Now, his day job is court musician.
He's playing for Saul, but from time to time,
he's also been given a captainship or commander
over a certain sect of the army.
And so here is war time again in verse eight,
and David goes out to fight against the Philistines,
continuing in verse eight, it says,
and slew them a great slaughter, and they fled from him.
And an evil spirit from the Lord was upon Saul,
and he sat in the house with his javelin in his hand,
and David played with his hand.
Here's David here playing his harp
in the presence of King Saul.
This was his day job, and the evil spirit comes upon Saul.
He's got his javelin in his hand,
verse 10 says, Saul sought to smite David
even to the wall with the javelin,
but he slipped away out of Saul's presence,
and he smote the javelin into the wall,
and David fled and escaped that night.
You see, after David's success
set the battle over Goliath,
David rises to prominence in the military,
becomes a military commander.
We saw that a chapter ago in verse 18 in Saul's army.
And Saul is running David on these missions.
He's going out, he's destroying the enemy at that time,
which was the Philistines,
and he's being strengthened by God,
he's being blessed by God, he's becoming,
he's being successful,
and as God continues to be with David and strengthen him,
and give him victory over his foes,
there becomes an increasing jealousy from Saul.
We looked at this last week where Saul,
here's the song that David asslays 10,000s,
and him only thousands, and he becomes very jealous.
Now, at first read, when you look at this verse here,
it says that in verse nine,
that the evil spirit from the Lord is upon Saul.
Now, we understand in context that God
does not cause people to sin.
That's outside the boundaries of what we know
the scripture teaches about God.
James chapter one, verse 13, says,
let no man say when he is tempted,
I am tempted of God, for God cannot be tempted with evil,
neither tempt he any man.
So to say that this passage is just to be understood that,
well, the reason why Saul acts the way that he does
is because of God, God's causing him to be this sinful man.
That's not what we see, that's not consistent with scripture.
So when the Bible says that the evil spirit
comes from the Lord, how are we to understand this?
How are we to understand what's going on in Saul's heart?
Well, I think it's illustrated several times in scripture,
once in Romans chapter one, another time in Job,
in the whole entire story of Job,
but in context of scripture, we see it time and time 10,
that oftentimes God allows evil to happen in someone's life.
Not that God causes it, but that God allows it.
Several times in Romans chapter one,
it tells us that it happens as a repercussion
to a relentless sinfulness.
The Bible says that God gives people over to a reprobate mind
because of their consistent, relentless sin
against their warring against God.
Oftentimes we see this as a process of refinement,
we can kind of see that in Job's life,
but either way, this evil spirit from the Lord,
I don't think should be written or should be understood
as it's from the Lord in the sense that
that's where its source is found,
but rather it is from in a sense that God allows it to happen.
Now we know that there's a spiritual enemy,
the Bible makes that very clear,
and the spiritual enemies of God's children
want nothing more than to destroy and to consume.
The Bible uses this idea of Satan being a roaring lion,
seeking whom he may devour.
The Bible also talks about that,
Satan's goal is to kill and destroy.
That's his desire.
So oftentimes God in this sovereignty
allows these evil forces to happen in someone's life,
creating, I believe, an opportunity for his will to transpire.
Now God doesn't, in a sense, doesn't consume Saul,
forcing him to do these things,
I think that it's just God allowing this to happen.
Evil things, evil spirits coming into Saul's life
as judgment for Saul's relentless disobedience.
Saul continually, continually disobeyed,
continually had an unrepentant heart.
And so God finally says, you know what?
Enough is enough.
Instead of my will being done, your will be done, Saul.
And God gives him over to these evil spirits.
So in a fit of rage, Saul launches his javelin,
says he's sitting in his palace with a javelin by his side,
launches that javelin at David with the aim
of killing him in cold blood.
He says he wanted to pin him against the wall.
But Saul misses entirely, David's able to escape.
But what happens is that something else dies that day.
Saul missed David, but dealt a death blow
to David's career.
Because at this point, David, his income, his livelihood,
all the meals that he ate were all in Saul's house.
He was part and parcel of Saul's family,
eating at his table, married to his daughter,
and taking care of as a person who is a part of Saul's family,
a part of the royal family.
But at this point in his life, due to Saul's relentless
disobedience, the evil that has come upon his heart,
and now this murderous rage, although David escapes,
Saul deals a death blow to David's career.
And from this point on, we're going to see
as we continue to study through David's life,
from this point on for many, many years,
David is going to be on the run.
David is going to leave the palace in Gabea.
He's not going to get back into that kind of living
for quite some time, and he becomes a nomad.
He's going to wander through the deserts.
He's going to be in caves.
He's going to insert himself
into the Bedouin community that's there.
And he is going to be constantly on the run.
I've used some of these pillars tonight,
as some illustrations tonight.
But what happens is that God allows
in this first stream of loss for David's career
to come tumbling down.
And that's all that happens for his career.
Now, David is on the run at this point.
David no longer has the security of finances.
He no longer has a roof over his head.
He no longer has the food at the king's table.
David is on the run, and the pillar of his career falls.
The next stream of loss that we see
is just a little bit further.
Let's read on in verses 11 through 17, here in chapter 19.
Scripture continues to say this.
Saul also sent messengers unto David's house.
Now, David leaves the palace and goes to his home.
Verse 11 says that he went to David's house,
he sent messengers unto David's house to watch him
and to slay him in the morning.
And Michael, David's wife, told him saying,
if thou save thy life tonight, tomorrow,
thou shall be slain.
So Michael let David down through a window
and he went and fled and escaped.
And Michael took an image and laid it on the bed
and put it the pillow of goat's hair for his bolster
and covered it with a cloth.
And when Saul sent messengers to take David,
she said, he is sick.
And Saul sent the messengers again to see David saying,
bring him to me in the bed that I may slay him.
And when the messengers were come in, behold,
there was an image in the bed
with a pillow of goat's hair for a bolster.
And Saul said unto Michael, why hast thou deceived me so?
And sent away my enemy that he may escape.
And Michael answered, Saul, he said unto me, let me go.
Why should I kill thee?
Now here, in an attempt to catch David at home,
Saul sends, the Bible says, messengers to slay him.
These are assassins, royal assassins,
come to kill David in his home.
Now, Michael knows to catch his wind
that this is going to happen.
And she gives him just a short window to escape.
Let's him down, the Bible says, out of the window
and he escapes.
And trying to give David time to escape the city
to evade these royal assassins,
something interesting takes place here.
Michael uses here, the Bible says, an image.
It's the idea of a tarifim.
These are some images that we found.
These are what would probably have been used by Michael,
probably the one on the right more.
But these were kind of household objects
that were used historically in this time.
They were used, they're made out of clay
and other things carved sometimes out of wood and stone.
They were sort of like ancient pictures.
Now they couldn't take pictures of their family members,
but when family members passed on,
many times they would carve out these images
and place them in their homes by way of remembrance,
to remember grandma and grandpa
and to remember Uncle Bill and Uncle Ted
and all of our families together.
But what would happen is that oftentimes
these would become part of, if they're not careful,
pagan cultures would use these as ancestor worship
and they would worship these as part of their worship experience.
This still happens today, by the way,
in many countries in Asia.
But what would happen is that I believe that this is what,
probably something that Michael would have used.
She would have taken something like this,
placed it in the bed.
Obviously she uses some goat hair
to kind of make it look realistic.
So when these assassins come in and they see David sleeping,
she goes, oh, yeah, you have to go away.
He's sick.
Well, they go away and then they're sent back
and Saul says, you know what?
I want him dead so much so that even if he's sick,
I want you to carry the bed all the way to me
and I want to kill him myself.
So that's what they do.
They go in, they discover,
this isn't actually really a person.
This is a statue and it's made me to look like a person.
Of course, they bring Michael into Saul's presence
and he's very, very upset.
Why have you given my enemy the opportunity to escape me?
And at this point, Michael, instead of taking the blame
and saying, well, I love my husband and I'm faithful to him
and I think what you're doing is wrong, Dad.
She is afraid for her own life.
And at this point, in a sense, betrays David
in saying that the reason why I did this, Dad,
is because he threatened to kill me.
That's what the last verse says.
She says, let me go.
Why should I kill thee?
So she says, he made a death threat.
The reason why I did this, Dad,
is because David threatened to kill me.
Now, what happens from this point on,
and we can read historically throughout the rest of First
Samuel, is that from this point on,
Michael no longer has a relationship with David.
In fact, about six chapters of following in chapter 25,
David actually remarries another guy named Falati.
At this point, David is alone.
He has no career promise.
He has no income.
He has no place to lay his head.
He's constantly on the run.
And now, this is gonna represent family,
he has no family, all right?
So God allows that pillar to fall.
No career, no family.
He's still on the run.
God allows that pillar in his life to fall.
Then we see in the end of chapter 19,
David runs to what I would call a confidant.
Chapter 19 verse 18, let's continue reading.
It says, so David fled and escaped
and came to Samuel to Ramah
and told him all that Saul had done to him,
and he and Samuel went and dwelt in Nioath.
And it was told Saul saying, behold David is at Nioath
in Ramah, and Saul sent messengers to take David.
And when they saw the company of the prophets prophesying,
and Samuel standing as appointed over them,
the spirit of God was upon them,
and the messengers of Saul, and they also prophesied.
And when it was told Saul, he sent other messengers
and they prophesied likewise.
And Saul sent messengers again the third time,
and they prophesied also.
Then he went also to Ramah and came to a great well
that is in Sekhu, and he asked and said,
where are Samuel and David?
And one said, behold, they are at Nioath in Ramah.
And he went thither to Nioath in Ramah,
and the spirit of God was upon him also,
and he went on and prophesied until he came to Nioath
in Ramah.
And he stripped off his clothes also and prophesied
before Samuel in like manner and lay down naked
all the day and all the night,
wherefore they say is Saul among the prophets.
Now the first time I read through this,
I had totally forgotten this portion of the story,
but it's quite incredible and how God intervenes.
So David's on the run.
He goes to his confidant, Samuel.
Samuel's hometown is Ramah.
They go to a place in that area called Nioath,
and there there's a revival going on.
Samuel is prophesying, he is distributing God's word
to the people, and Saul sends again those messengers.
Don't read messengers, read assassins.
That's what they are.
He sends his first band of assassins.
They go and they're going to take out Samuel and David,
because Samuel is harboring David.
And so these assassins go, they find out where he is,
and as they approach this revival,
the Bible says that the spirit of God comes on them
and they begin preaching.
Can you imagine that?
These guys are walking up, maybe a knife
behind their back getting ready,
and all of a sudden the spirit of God comes upon them
and they go, thus sayeth the Lord,
and they begin preaching at this revival.
Well, they return and say, we couldn't get near him.
As soon as we got there, we started preaching.
So Saul says, you know what, you guys are useless.
He sends a second batch of assassins, they go.
The Bible says the same thing happens.
Spirit of God comes upon them
as they try to take out the man of God and David,
and then they're preaching.
The third group of assassins comes.
The same thing happens.
Saul says, you know what, enough is enough.
Ramaz pretty close.
I showed you on the map here,
Gabeah is where they are, it's just a few miles.
I'm gonna head myself and I'm gonna take care of this.
And so he goes and he asks, where's David?
Where's Samuel?
They go up into this area.
Saul comes up and as he approaches,
the scripture says he is also taken over
by the spirit of God, and as he does,
he begins to prophesy.
He prophesies in verse 24 in a manner
unlike the rest of them.
I'll just put it that way.
And the people are so amazed, wait a minute,
is Saul a prophet now?
What's interesting here is that God is protecting his man.
He's protecting his future king,
and God is taking over and proving to him,
proving to David, something that we'll see here
in just a few moments.
But as these events are unfolding,
something also happens with David's life.
David is not able to continue to stay there.
Now this revival is coming to an end.
David knows, I can't stay here any longer.
There's already been three attempts on my life.
Now the king himself is here to kill me,
and if I linger still, I am going to be killed.
So David sees the opportunity as the assassins,
the assassinations are foiled,
and even Saul is indisposed at the moment,
he takes the opportunity to flee.
And God allows the pillar of a confidant,
I think I used the shield as an example, to fall.
So there's nothing left there.
Now if you would continue on to chapter 20.
Chapter 20, just in brief,
because we won't have time to be able to study
the entire chapter at length.
We'll look at a few verses here at the end,
but he takes the opportunity to return back to Gebeah.
Now he knows that Saul's not there,
because Saul's indisposed, so he runs back to Gebeah,
and there he meets up with his best buddy, Jonathan.
Jonathan's the prince, he's Saul's son,
and there he is going to ask for his help.
And the first 40 verses of chapter 20,
he has a discussion with Jonathan.
And in brief, he says, Jonathan,
your dad is trying to kill me.
And of course, Jonathan doesn't believe him at first.
Oh, my dad wouldn't do anything like that,
but I'm gonna find out myself, and here's what I'm gonna do.
I'm gonna ask dad, and I'm gonna figure,
I'm gonna get to the bottom of this,
because we're buddies.
And what I'm gonna do is,
I have this practice session coming up,
where I shoot arrows, and my confidant,
my servant goes out and fetches the arrows.
And here's what I'm gonna do.
I'm gonna shoot these arrows,
and I'm gonna give my servant some instruction.
I'm gonna tell them that if he gets up to where the arrow is,
and I tell him to keep going,
that's your signal to keep running, David,
because my dad truly is trying to kill you.
So he goes in, he has a conversation with his dad.
At first, his dad says, oh, no, that's not what I'm doing,
but he pushes him further, and he reveals,
I am trying to preserve our lineage.
I'm trying to preserve you as King Jonathan,
and I need to take out David.
Of course, this breaks Jonathan's heart,
and he goes out into the courtyard.
Let's pick up in verse 41 of chapter 20.
Actually, let's go back a little bit farther.
Let's go up to verse 38.
Verse 38 says, Jonathan cried after the lad.
He shot the arrow.
Make speed, hey, stay not.
And Jonathan led, Jonathan's lad gathered up the arrows,
and came to his master.
But the lad knew not anything,
only Jonathan and David knew the matter.
He had given instruction to his servant, keep going,
keep going, and that is trying to signal David to run.
Verse 40, Jonathan gave his artillery to the lad,
and sent him to him, go, carry them to the city.
Now, it's just David and Jonathan together.
In verse 41, it says, as soon as the lad was gone,
David arose out of a place toward the south,
fell on his face to the ground,
and bowed himself three times.
And they kissed one another,
and wept one with another until David exceeded.
And Jonathan said to David, go in peace,
for as much as we have sworn both of us
in the name of the Lord, saying,
the Lord be between me and thee,
and between thy seed, and between my seed,
and thy seed forever.
And he arose and departed,
and Jonathan went into the city.
They understood, Jonathan understood
what was happening, and in signaling David to run,
he knew that this would be the end of their relationship
as they know it.
David and Jonathan here have a bittersweet time of remorse
and knowing that they would not be able to be
the close friends that they once were.
And they wouldn't know what the future would hold,
but they had a promise, and they had made that promise.
We saw that just a few chapters earlier,
where they had promised that they would protect
one another's family.
So we'll see that come to fruition in a few stories here,
when we see David's life as he becomes king.
But at this point in time,
David and Jonathan part ways,
understanding that there probably wouldn't be another time
like this where they would have their friendship.
And in fact, the truth is,
this would be the last time David and Jonathan
would ever see each other again, this side of heaven.
For David and Jonathan would never,
never again is it recorded in scripture,
have a relationship, talk with one another,
to hug, to high five, to be the best friends that they were.
And this would be the last time their friendship
would have a time of bonding.
And so God allows the pillar of friendship,
I would call, to fall.
God is slowly stripping away
all of these things in David's life,
his career, his family, his confidant, his friend.
And the very last one that would be stripped away
is his reputation.
In 1 Samuel chapter 21,
David flees, he goes to a place called Knob.
He talks to a priest there.
He eats a bread from the table of showbread
because like I said, he's got no career,
he's got no prospects, he's on the run,
nowhere to eat, nowhere, no money to buy anything.
God provides for him that way.
And then in verse eight, David thinks,
you know what, where can I go
that Saul will not find me?
Everywhere I go, he seems to find me,
sending assassins after me.
This guy is running frantically for his life.
Where can I go?
And he thinks, I know where I can go.
There is a famous city that probably,
none of the people of Israel would ever think to look for me.
And he thinks of a town called Gath.
Now, if you remember, there was a certain famous fellow
in David's life from the city of Gath.
And he guesses Goliath, yes, Goliath,
the giant that he slew was from Gath.
And so David decides, I'm going to run
outside the boundaries of Israel
at some 25 miles from the Gebeah where he was
with Jonathan, and he runs some 25 miles to Gath.
Now let's look at here in verse 10 of chapter 21.
It says, David rose and fled that day for fear of Saul
and went to Aukish, the king of Gath.
And the servants of Aukish said to him,
is not this David the king of the land?
Did they not sing one to another of him in dances,
saying Saul has slain his thousands and David his 10,000s?
And David laid up these words in his heart
and was so afraid of Aukish, the king of Gath.
And he changed his behavior before them
and feigned himself mad in their hands
and scrambled on the doors of the gate
and let his spittle fall down upon his beard.
Then said Aukish unto the servants,
lo, ye see the man is mad.
Wherefore then hath he brought him to me?
Have I need of mad men that ye have brought this fellow
to play the mad men in my presence?
Shall this fellow come into my house?
So David here flees from Gabeah to the city of Gath,
a Philistine city where the king Aukish lives.
And there filled with fear and anxiety
because immediately he's recognized,
this is David, the giant killer.
He is the one they call king,
the one they sing his praises.
Obviously that song was such a hit song
and had made it all the way down into the Philistine lands.
And they had heard that song and they say,
here he is, let's bring him before the king.
Now, probably we can guess that they might think
this is an opportunity for us to take out this giant slayer.
And of course, David filled with fear and anxiety,
obviously probably very physically tired,
very emotionally distraught.
He is brought before Aukish.
And he believes that if he's able to fake insanity,
then somehow maybe they'll let him live.
And that's what he does.
When they go to get him, he's at the city gates
and the Bible says that he feigns madness.
He feigns that he's insane and he begins to scrabble
using his nails crawling at the city gates,
allowing all the spit to run down his beard
as if he had gone insane.
And as he plays the mad man in front of the king,
the king is so disgusted that the Bible says here,
he says, do I have need of mad men?
You can almost hear the ring in his voice,
almost like a stab, if you will.
I've got enough mad people around me, right?
I'm surrounded by crazy people.
Do I need more of them?
Get him out of here.
The ruse works.
David leaves the court of the king,
but in the sight of all the people
that once feared David, his reputation is lost.
No longer do they see David as the giant killer,
the one to be feared, the slayer of 10,000s.
They dismiss him out of their court like the court jester.
This guy's mad, get him out of here.
And the pillar of reputation, how people see him, falls.
And here is David.
No career, no family, no confidants,
no friends, no reputation.
How far he has fallen in just a few weeks.
David goes from the employed commander of armies,
living in the palace, eating from the king's table,
married, living a stable life to a separated,
unemployed, friendless vagabond playing the fool
in the land of the pagans, the Philistines.
What happened?
What in the world is going on in David's life?
I believe it's in this season of life
that some of the most beautiful psalms of David are written.
It's in this season of life that God allows David
to learn the most important lesson of all.
David learns what he truly needs.
Author and Holocaust survivor Corey Ten Boom said this,
you may never know that God is all we need
until God is all we have.
Many years ago, a song was written by Babby Mason,
based on a quote by a preacher long ago,
and the song goes like this.
God is too wise to be mistaken.
God is too good to be unkind.
So when you don't understand, when you don't see his plan,
when you can't trace his hand, trust his heart.
How many of you have heard that song before?
An incredible song.
But I believe this is what God is teaching David.
He is teaching David as he can teach us tonight
that a Christian should learn to trust in God alone
by understanding really three dangers
that we see illustrated in this context that we've said.
If you're taking notes, the first danger is this,
what I would call the danger of the trade.
And what we can learn from this is that as long
as you lean on things, you won't learn to lean
on God.
The Israelites were warned of this kind of false sense
of security in Jeremiah chapter two by the prophet.
In verse 13, he says to this,
for my people have committed two evils.
They've forsaken me, the fountain of living waters,
and hewn out sisters, broken sisters,
that can hold no water.
You see, we are constantly inundated in our culture,
in the world that we live in, to lean on things
for security.
And oftentimes we make our lives all about collecting
those things, leaning on our careers for security,
on our education for security, on entertainment,
on relationships, on our children, on our health.
We're seduced to believe that if we collect enough
of these things in life, the things that are made available
to us in this life, then our lives will have joy,
they'll have meaning, and they'll have security.
God warns a church in the book of Revelation,
the church of Laodicea, who believes that
in Revelation chapter three, God says to them,
because thou sayest I am rich and increased with goods
and have need of nothing, and knowest not that thou
are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked.
I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire
that thou mayest be rich and white raiment that thou
mayest be clothed, and that the shame of the nakedness
do not appear and anoint thine eyes with eye salve
that thou mayest see.
I heard recently from a pastor who said that every person
has just as much of God as they want.
You see, we serve an infinite God who has done everything
he can to build a relationship with us.
He has not left us here to be forsaken.
He has begotten his only son to bleed and to die for us
to make way for a relationship to happen.
He has left the incredible gift of his word to us
so that we might know him and that we might honor him.
And the problem is that we oftentimes do not have
an appetite for God because we are full of this world.
And what David will learn is that if he leans on those things,
if he leans on a career or a family or a friend
or a confidant or his reputation,
he will have no room in his heart for leaning on God.
And we must learn that we cannot trade the things
of this world for the infinite God that we serve.
And in David's life, God pulls all of those things away,
all of those things that he could have used
to trade his relationship for God for.
And he asks him this question,
David, am I enough to satisfy?
The second thing, if you're taking notes,
a second thing that we can learn is the danger
of what I call the danger of the horizon.
And the lesson to be learned here is that as long as you focus
only on what you can see, you won't learn to walk in faith.
This going hand in hand with our lives being all about
the things of this world, David's anointed to be
the next king of Israel.
It hadn't happened yet.
Think back to him sitting, playing the harp
in the court of King Saul.
He had been anointed, he was going to be
the next king of Israel, but it hadn't happened yet.
It required faith for David to believe
that that was going to happen.
And it had required faith for him to pursue
God's plan for his life.
Now David's life had become a place of comfort
in the house of King Saul.
He had a wife, he had a career, he had at the king's table.
And David's life had become a place of comfort
in the house of the king.
But that wasn't the place God had for him.
Now obviously he can lament the loss,
but David wasn't chosen to sit at the feet of Saul.
He was chosen to sit on the throne
that Saul was sitting on.
That was what God's plan was for David's life.
Not to sit comfortably by the king's side
and play an instrument, his plan for him would be
to replace that king on that throne.
That was David's calling, that was David's anointing.
God's plan for him.
Oftentimes in our life, the familiar
can make us comfortable, safe.
And it robs us of what God has yet to do in our lives.
I say this, not lightly, I say this in all due respect,
but you know, in a crowd this big of a church this historic,
there could possibly be someone in here tonight
that has become comfortable in their relationship
and in their walk with God.
So much so that they haven't taken a real step of faith
in years.
And if that's you, I wanna tell you that you are missing out
on what it means to walk with God.
You become comfortable playing the harp for the king
when God has called you onto something greater.
So God pulls away the comforts that he had,
his career, his family, his confidants, his friends,
his reputation, and he says to David,
David, am I enough to satisfy?
Will you walk with me in faith?
Last one, if you're taking notes,
is what I would call the danger of the proxy.
And what we can learn from this danger is that as long
as you seek only the temporary,
you won't learn to identify the permanent.
In the ancient world, the ancient Romans discovered
an incredible metal.
It revolutionized the way that everything was done in Rome.
They found this metal, they called it plumbum.
And what was amazing about this metal is that it was
incredibly easy to mold, it was malleable.
You could actually melt this metal over a campfire.
It was so easy to use.
And they would create jewelry and they would create bowls
and cups and goblets, they even used it as piping
to pipe in water from streams into their bathhouses.
It had a sweet flavor, so they began to add it
to their food and to their wine.
And it was an incredible thing, it was actually coined
the plastic of the ancient world.
It was an amazing new technology.
It was the most useful metal in the entire world.
You know what we call this metal today?
Lead.
What was simultaneously feeding the Romans was also
at the same time killing the Romans.
I think our modern world is still so much in danger
of this type of thing.
Things that we pursue in the temporary that are
simultaneously feeding us and killing us at the same time.
This applies so much to our spiritual life
as it does our emotional and physical life.
We stop at the temporary.
We're fixated on the here and the now.
We're fixated on the things that give us immediate pleasure.
What do people think of me?
How do I compare to the people across the street?
What are those parents over there doing with their kids?
What am I missing out on?
What about that new thing?
We have to be involved in this new club or this new group.
And every decision is centered on the here and now.
And although it feels like it is giving you life,
it is actually killing you.
Our lives are overtaxed, overburdened.
We are overcommitted.
And oftentimes, as one pastor puts it,
we overestimate in the short term
and we underestimate what can be done in the long term.
And we build our lives all about right now.
And we forget that we serve a God in eternity.
A God who is with us now,
but wants us to live not for the here and now,
but for the eternity.
And what I fear oftentimes is that we train
not just us and our lives, but the next generation
to seek the here and now
and to not think about the eternity.
And Jesus is screaming at us from the pages
of Matthew chapter six, verse 33,
but seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness.
And all these things will be added unto you.
And so God allows all of these things to be pulled away.
Every temporary reprieve from David's life
and says, David, am I enough to satisfy?
And amazingly, David responds.
If you have your scripture still open,
I invite you to open up to the Psalm, Psalm 142.
Psalm chapter 142.
David responds to these questions, I believe.
When God asks him, am I enough to satisfy?
Psalm chapter 142 is an incredible prayer
that he writes from a cave.
And in verse five, he says this,
I cried unto thee, O Lord,
I said, thou art my refuge
and my portion in the land of the living.
You've allowed everything to be stripped from my life.
I have nothing, I am alone in a cave,
but God, you are enough for me.
You are my safety, you are my portion.
I have all that I need.
And I think as believers today,
it's even more critical that we learn this truth,
that God alone is enough to trust in.
God is all that we need
and that we must seek him with our whole heart.
That God may allow a time in your life.
And you know what?
There might be some people right now
who are in the middle of a life like this,
where you feel as if God has begun to move in your life,
to remove the comfort, the temporary,
the things that you are holding dear
and God is moving in your life
and there may be a lesson to be learned
and he is trying to teach you I am enough.
What's incredible today
is that Jesus has already proven to you he is enough.
He has already proven that God is enough.
When Jesus went to the cross, he bled, he died,
he took upon us the full payment for our sins
and he declared three words, it is finished.
Jesus proved he was enough for you and for me.
And the Bible says that if we place our faith and trust
in his finished work, we will be saved.
What could God do in your life?
What could God do in your marriage, in your kids' lives?
If you learn to lean on God, to walk in faith
and to seek the eternal and to be able to boldly declare
God, you are enough.
And I live not for the here and now,
but I live for you, my King.
If God was enough for you in your marriage
and your kids' lives, you know what I think?
I think that if we had a church of people
who believed that, not just up here, but in here,
and it came out here and here,
we would have a church of people
and to borrow a quote from the pastor John Wesley,
he says, people would come for miles to watch us burn.
I believe that we would have a church so dedicated,
so on fire for God, that people would take notice,
not of us, but of the God who is able to satisfy.
And that is my prayer for us,
that we would learn tonight the very important lesson,
that it's life's not about the things of this world,
it's not about our careers or our family
or the things we trust in, our reputations, our friendships.
God is enough and God alone is who we ought to live for.
Would you bow your heads with me?